Fernando Alonso
|birthplace = Oviedo, Spain |death date = |placeofdeath = |nationality = |status = Active |currentteam = |currentcar = 3 |firstrace = 2001 Australian Grand Prix |firstwin = 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix |lastrace = |lastwin = 2013 Spanish Grand Prix |2012Position = 2nd |2012Pts = 278 }} Fernando Alonso Díaz (born 29 July 1981 in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain) is a racing driver currently driving in Formula One for the team. A Double World Champion, winning the title in and , he is considered to be one of the finest drivers to have graced the sport. After beginning his Formula One career with in , Alonso moved to in , initially as a test driver before being promoted to full-time race driver in . Within half a season, was the sport's youngest polesitter; and the youngest driver to set the fastest lap; and at the , he became the youngest winner. In 2005, he became the youngest World Champion, at the age of 24 years and 58 days, after fending off Kimi Räikkönen, in 2006, the youngest double World Champion after a good battle with Michael Schumacher. He moved to in , but after a difficult season Alonso moved back to Renault for two more years without much success, one of his wins was part of the Crashgate scandal. For , he moved to his current team Ferrari, where after an initial struggle Alonso nearly won the World Championship. While disappointed, was Alonso's strongest season, however, he was beaten to the title by Sebastian Vettel. While he may not hold the youngest driver records anymore, Alonso has the fourth-most wins of any Formula One driver with wins. He is known for his ability to salvage a strong result regardless of grid position, so despite taking only poles, he has been on the podium and has scored points, the second-highest total in history. Formula One History Minardi 2001 After winning the Euro Series by Nissan at his first attempt in 1999 and coming fourth in International Formula 3000 in 2000, Alonso was signed up by Minardi in . When he started in Australia, Alonso became the third youngest driver to ever start a Grand Prix, after Mike Thackwell and Ricardo Rodriguez. The car, the PS01, was unimpressive and Alonso was unable to make a challenge on the points (which were the first six places). However, Alonso did pull off some strong performances, and while his best finish was tenth and last at the , his best performance was at the , where the Spaniard held off Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Olivier Panis to finish eleventh out of the sixteen finishers. Renault 2002 Alonso became the test driver for Renault F1 (who had taken over the team) in , instead of a seat at (which was taken by Felipe Massa) or a full-time race seat at Renault, which did not materialise. Alonso covered 1,642 laps of testing in 2002. 2003 Alonso was signed up to the full race seat at for , replacing Jenson Button in a decision which was critised in the British media after Button's strong performances that season. The decision was proven to be a good one, as within two races, Alonso became the youngest polesitter in Formula One history at the . He only finished third, however, behind Kimi Räikkönen and Rubens Barrichello. The next race, in Brazil was another podium, however, Alonso had the accident that brought out the red flag and stopped the race early. He missed the double waved yellow flags and the safety car board and crashed into the debris from Mark Webber's earlier accident. At his home Grand Prix, Alonso qualified strongly, in third, and managed to finish in second place. This put him in third place in the championship at the time. A string of strong performances followed. At the , Alonso became a winner for the first time, dominating the field and leading all but one lap from pole. He managed to lap the defending World Champion, Michael Schumacher, in the process. The win made him the youngest ever race winner at just 22 years old. Unfortuanately, in the three races that remained, Alonso only scored a solitary point (at Monza). Alonso classified sixth in the championship, with 55 points. His more experienced team mate, Jarno Trulli, came in eighth place, with 22 less points, Alonso clearly the stronger of the pair. 2004 Staying with for the season, Alonso performed well, scoring four podiums and four fourth places, but not taking any wins. He started with a podium, taking third place in Australia, behind the massively dominant . He scored points in five of the next seven races, retiring in Monaco. Alonso had a high speed accident at the , after a tyre deflated. Alonso took pole at the , where came second after Michael Schumacher's impressive strategy of four pit stops. After a poor British GP, Alonso scored two more podiums in Germany and Hungary. He finished strongly in the last three to races to finish Formula One's then-longest season in fourth place in the championship, with 59 points. 2005 Alonso, with the power of the Renault R25 and Michelin tyres was able to win races in Malaysia, Bahrain, San Marino, Europe, France, Germany and China, winning the world championship with third in Interlagos with two races to spare over Kimi Raikkonen in the McLaren and Michael Schumacher's Ferrari in what was F1's longest season until 2012. 2006 McLaren 2007 Return to Renault 2008 2009 Ferrari 2010 2011 2012 Alonso's third year with did not start as planned. The F2012 was a very poor car at first, and this was evident at the first race in Australia. Alonso qualified twelfth after beaching the car in the gravel in Q2. But after a strong start and a bit of luck, Alonso had reached sixth at the end of lap two. He drove a strong race, withstanding Pastor Maldonado's late race pressure in the final stint to finish in fifth place. The was a surprise for everyone. Despite only qualifying ninth, Alonso made up four places at the start and mastered the wet conditions to take the lead on lap 16, a lead he held until he pitted with about fifteen laps to go after being overtaken by Sergio Pérez. Alonso gained an advantage by pitting ahead of Pérez and took the lead back. Alonso went on to win, helped by Pérez making an error and losing about five seconds. The unexpected win propelled Alonso into an unlikely championship lead after two races. 's exclusion from qualifying.]] In China and Bahrain, Alonso finished ninth and seventh after two difficult races. His home race was much stronger, initially qualifying third, which became second after Lewis Hamilton was excluded from qualifying. Yet another good start meant Alonso went into the first corner ahead of polesitter Pastor Maldonado. After holding the lead after the first pit stop, Alonso was held up by Charles Pic and Maldonado, who also performed an undercut, took a five second lead. The third and final pitstop was a fast one by the Ferrari crew, and after a fastest lap on the out lap, Alonso was within seconds of Maldonado, but the Spaniard's tyres could not hold out and he fell back, holding off Kimi Räikkönen for an impressive second place. Alonso's form did not stop there, driving a strong race at the , overcoming Hamilton to take third place and to take the championship lead from Sebastian Vettel. The was not a massive success for Alonso. He lead a large portion of the race until his tyres degraded massively and he was overtaken by Hamilton, before losing out to Romain Grosjean, Pérez and Vettel for a lucky fifth and losing his championship lead. The next race in Europe was an unexpected success. Alonso qualified 11th in one of the closest qualifying sessions of all time, but fought hard to be gifted the lead after Vettel's alternator failure. Alonso had made many overtakes and did not lose his lead, beating Räikkönen by over six seconds. With Hamilton also not scoring, Alonso had a lead of 20 points, ahead of Mark Webber. Alonso took his and Ferrari's first pole position since the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix in the wet qualifying at the . Alonso lead for most of the race before ceding to Webber with five laps left. In Germany, Alonso set pole again, and took advantage of Vettel's misfortune and held off Jenson Button and a lapped Hamilton to take victory, his third of the season. At Hungary, Alonso qualified sixth but had a good start to head Räikkönen into the first corner in fifth place. Alonso finished fifth, ahead of Button after Räikkönen got past after the first stint and got Button's strategy wrong. At the , Alonso qualified sixth (which became fifth after Maldonado's penalty). After making a good start, he was hit by Grosjean and Hamilton at the first corner, with Grosjean's car a metre or so away from Alonso's head. Alonso was forced to retire. Had Alonso finished in the points, he would have equalled Michael Schumacher's record of 24 consectutive points finishes, but he was left stranded on 23. before the .]] The next race was the , Ferrari's home race. Alonso had a difficult Friday, both his practice sessions being cut short due to mechanical failure. Then, after dominating the first two sessions of qualifying, a roll-bar issue meant that Alonso qualified in tenth place. He made a good start and slowly made his way up the field, even overtaking teammate Felipe Massa to eventually finish in third place, increasing his championship lead. In Singapore, Alonso once again finished third to secure his fourth podium there out of five races (the other being a fourth place in 2011), benefitting from retirements of both Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado. In Japan, Alonso's luck ran out and he was caught by Räikkönen before the first corner after the Finn had put a tyre on the grass. The slight touch gave Alonso a left-rear puncture, and he spun off, onto the gravel, and into retirement. Alonso's once-strong lead in the championship was reduced to just four points ahead of Vettel. at the first corner and retired, putting a serious dent in his Championship lead.]] The saw Alonso finish in third place, one place ahead of teammate Massa, and behind Webber and race-winner (for the third consecutive race) Sebastian Vettel. The result saw Vettel overtake Alonso in the Drivers' World Championship for the first time since June. Alonso's deficit was just six points. In India, Alonso managed to finish second, but Vettel won his fourth race in a row, and thus Vettel's championship lead increased to 13 points. At the next race, in Abu Dhabi, Alonso's title challenge was given a major boost as Vettel was excluded from qualifying, and started the race from the pit lane. Alonso came second again, but after a lot of luck and skill, Vettel recovered remarkably to finish third, and the gap was reduced to just ten points. In the penultimate race, the , Alonso qualified in ninth. This was promoted to eighth after Romain Grosjean's gearbox penalty. This left Alonso on the dirty side of the grid. decided to break the seal on teammate Massa's gearbox. Since Massa had qualified two places ahead of Alonso, Alonso moved up to seventh and onto the clean side of the grid. Alonso benefitted greatly from the sacrifice, and was fourth at the end of lap one, and after Webber's retirement, Alonso once again finished on the podium, with Massa close behind. Vettel, however, was second and thus the gap between the pair was increased back to thirteen points. The final race, the , initially went in Vettel's favour, as the German qualified ahead. The start went in Alonso's favour, however, and Alonso managed to get ahead, before Vettel was caught up in an accident. Alonso made his way up to third before going off track at turn 1, and letting Nico Hülkenberg by. He retained his fourth place as teammate Massa held up the chasing pack. Vettel was making his way back up the field, despite the damage to his car. As a result, Alonso's chances of Championship victory were looking slim, until Hülkenberg and Hamilton collided, which elevated Massa to second with Alonso a few seconds behind. Massa duly let his teammate past. Unfortuanately, Vettel was able to finish in sixth place to take the title, Alonso just three points behind. 2013 Armed with a better than the year before, Alonso started the season stronger than in . For the first race, the , Alonso was outqualified by teammate Felipe Massa, but after pitting ahead of his teammate, got past him halfway through the race. He also managed to pass polesitter Sebastian Vettel with this pitstop, and looked set for victory; but Kimi Räikkönen, who had pitted one less time than Alonso, won the race by a clear margin and Alonso had to settle for second. The was a different matter. Having qualified third (but outqualified by Massa again), Alonso managed to bring himself in second place by the end of the second turn, but ran into the back of Vettel and damaged his front wing. Alonso bravely soldiered on, defending strongly against Mark Webber, but decided not to pit. At the end of the main straight, the wing fell off and went under the car, and Alonso was beached in the gravel trap and his race was over after just a lap. Alonso breezed to victory at the . Having outqualified Massa, Alonso made a strong start to pressure polesitter Lewis Hamilton, overtaking him on lap 5 before pitting early. Räikkönen, in second, was 10 seconds down. As for Bahrain, Alonso made a good start from third but could not hold off Vettel. Nico Rosberg, who started on pole, was soon passed by both drivers, and Alonso was a few seconds behind leader Vettel. On lap 8, Alonso's DRS flap on the rear wing lodged open, and he was forced to pit to get it closed. After it failed again, Alonso pitted again, and drove strongly to the finish, managing to pick up four points for eighth place. At his home Grand Prix, the , Alonso qualified down in fifth but on race day, the was the quickest car on track. Despite taking four stops, Alonso breezed to victory, ten seconds clear of the three-stopping Räikkönen. Two weeks later, in Monaco, Alonso's luck was not there, and he struggled to a seventh-place finish. He performed much better at the next race, in Canada, qualifying in sixth place before fighting strongly to finish in second place behind Vettel. After a three-week break, Alonso headed to Silverstone for the . He qualified poorly, his best Q3 time giving him 10th and last of the session. He started ninth after Paul di Resta's exclusion from qualifying. After an unimpressive start, Alonso fought for position, overtaking Jenson Button and Romain Grosjean early on. After the first round of pitstops, Alonso was in fourth behind Adrian Sutil, despite obtaining a puncture on his right-rear tyre as he entered the pits. After pitting for the second safety car, Alonso was able to fight on new tyres and eventually finished third. The was the next week. Alonso qualified in eighth place, but fought strongly after a poor first stint to finish in fourth place, less than ten seconds down on winner Vettel. Three weeks later, in Hungary, Alonso had another issue with his DRS. Ferrari had failed to change the DRS settings to those for the race, and Alonso used DRS three times when not within one second of the car ahead. This forced Ferrari to inform Alonso of when he could use DRS, which lost Alonso time. Ferrari were fined €15,000 for the incident. After the mid-season break, Formula One returned to Belgium. Alonso qualified a disappointing ninth, but started magnificently to be in fifth place at the end of the first lap. He soon passed both Button and Rosberg to put himself in a podium position within six laps. At the first pitstop, he overtook Hamilton, to put himself in second. Unable to challenge the of Vettel, Alonso finished an impressive second. At the , Alonso finished second again, this time from fifth on the grid, having overtaken Nico Hülkenberg at the start and Webber a few laps later to put himself behind teammate Massa, who duly let his teammate through. Once again though, Alonso was unable to catch Vettel and had to settle for second. At the , Alonso appeared to struggle, qualifying seventh, but once again, made a lightning start to get himself into third place. Alonso then raced very patiently, attempting to save himself a pitstop, which, with the aid of the Safety Car, he managed to do, finishing second to Vettel for the third race in a row. Formula One Statistical Overview F1 Career Record Statistics Correct as of the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix Wins Correct as of the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix Career Results | |13th| | | |14th|17th|16th|10th| | |13th| |11th|0|23rd}} |- | 2002 | colspan=22| Test Driver | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |55|6th}} | | | | | | | | | |10th| | | | | | | |59|4th}} | | | | | | | | | | | |11th| | | | | | |133|1st}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |134|1st}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |109|3rd}} | |10th| | |10th| | | |11th| | | | | | | | |61|5th}} |11th|9th| | | |10th|14th| | | | | | |10th| |14th|26|9th}} | |13th| | | | | | |14th| | | | | | | | | |252|2nd}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |257|4th}} | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |278|2nd}} |- External links * Fernando Alonso's Official website (English) * Fernando Alonso on Wikipedia * Fernando Alonso on Manipe F1 Notes es:Fernando Alonso Category:Current Drivers Category:World Championship Winning Drivers Category:2001 Début Drivers Category:Spanish Drivers Category:Minardi Drivers Category:Renault Drivers Category:McLaren Drivers Category:Ferrari Drivers Category:Fernando Alonso Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:2012 Season Drivers